


The Harpy of Jötunheim

by Fleur_DeLys



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Friendship, Romance, Superheroes, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-02-05 11:31:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12793653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fleur_DeLys/pseuds/Fleur_DeLys
Summary: Angrboda Himnirsdottir, descendant of the Frost Giants of Jötunheim and former companion of Loki was chosen to be the guardian of the Chitauri Scepter.One day though, the Scepter gets stolen from her and it has the God of Mischief written all over it.When she descends to Earth to retrieve it, she runs into S.H.I.E.L.D, a top-secret organisation created for Earth's protection. Almost instantly, Nick Fury sees in her an opportunity to expand his Avengers initiative.





	1. A Rough Landing

**Author's Note:**

> [Set during the first Avengers movie (2012)]

Angrboda spent the entire trip from Asgard to Earth learning about human customs but nothing prepared her for the chaos of New York City.

The portal delivered her straight into a dirty alley of the Bronx, shortly after sunset. She guessed the rough landing was courtesy of Heimdall for having blackmailed him into giving her the information and transport she needed.

Heimdall hadn't been too hard to convince once Angrboda threatened to reveal that he'd been the one who allowed Thor and his companions to invade Jötunheim the previous year. He'd done it against Odin's orders and it was clear that this act of treason wouldn't go unpunished.

In exchange for her silence, she demanded Heimdall put his all-seeing all-knowing powers to good use and tell her who had stolen her precious Scepter. She was only half surprised to learn the thief was none other than Loki Laufeyson, the only person in the nine worlds who would dare to cross her.

According to Heimdall, Loki was trying to seize power on earth in order to rule over its people. She didn't know what he could possibly want with her Scepter but it mattered very little. All she cared about was to find it and hopefully kick Loki's ass in the process.

As per her request, Heimdall had opened a portal that allowed her to descend to Earth.

New York City was a maze, she had no idea where to start looking and so she decided to do the next best thing: wait for him to make his position known. Knowing how pretentious Loki was, it shouldn't take too long at all.

⁂

That first night on Earth was a whole new experience. It was a saving grace that she'd taken time to learn about Earthlings and their customs before coming here. Not that she would've struggled to survive, that part was ridiculously easy —humans were the last beings in the nine worlds who'd pose a threat to her— but since she was trying to stay discreet, adapting was mandatory.

Humans used a currency called money but naturally, she had none... Luckily, as she found out, it was the easiest thing in the world to acquire some.

The sun had fully gone down by then, as Angrboda walked through the bustling roads of New York City, filled with unsuspecting passersby. She set her eye on a middle aged man standing a few meters away under a lamp post lining the sidewalk. She approached him quickly and without a word, put a hand on his mouth and dragged him into the dark alley nearby. The poor man stirred like a fish out of water under her grip but she didn't need to put any effort to keep him in place.

"I won't hurt you if you don't struggle," she whispered, still covering his mouth with her palm.

She looked into both of his pockets and pulled out some keys, a few cards, a pack of gum and a wallet. She kept the wallet and tossed away the rest under the man's horrified eyes. She then pushed his head against the nearby wall, not hard enough to kill him but just enough to knock him unconscious. She finally released her grip, letting his body slide off to the ground.

Angrboda walked out of the alley flipping through the wallet. She found some cash and a credit card which was better than she'd hoped for.

Of course this wasn't her proudest moment but desperate times called for desperate measures. It would've been very different if she had her Scepter; she would've never resorted to this.

 _"You will pay for humiliating me, Loki"_  she thought bitterly as she handed the stolen credit card to the receptionist of some cheap hotel in Brooklyn.

That night she lay awake under the sheets of the hotel room and inevitably began overthinking the situation. She needed to be smart about this; any misstep could mean losing her Scepter for good and that was simply not an option.

Earthlings are inherently weak beings compared to Asgardians or Jötnars like herself; Loki would certainly stick out like a sore thumb. If she was patient enough she'd find out where he hid in no time —at least she hoped so... The issue, though, was that Angrboda was not a patient person in the slightest.

It was insanely frustrating not to have her Scepter with her. It had always been her weapon of choice, almost an extension of herself at this point, and not having it made her feel incredibly vulnerable. But moreover it was the fact that Grimolf, her old master, had named her the Guardian of that Scepter and for years she never left it out of her sight. It was truly incredible that someone had been able to steal it. The feeling of having failed her master was a huge blow to her pride.

_"Loki has no idea what he's gotten into... They don't call me The Harpy of Jötunheim for no reason."_

⁂

For days she kept a close eye on what Earthlings used as news outlets: televisions, newspapers... anything that would report on the whereabouts of Loki. After all, that madman was trying to enslave Earthlings —not that she cared much about that— she simply knew he would do something dramatic at one point and betray his position.

_"Or maybe my old companion has developed a sense of subtlety, although that would be a novelty for sure."_

It was after almost a week being on Earth that Angrboda finally found a lead from the small television set of her hotel room.

"Reporting live from outside the National Institute of Bioresource Technology where the annual charity gala is held. It seems like a group of armed men have breeched security and infiltrated into the laboratories. One of them is currently in the main hall... reports confirm he has began an assault on the Senior Manager of the Institute... Some witnesses who managed to escape say he uses telekinesis and is dotted with remarkable strength...The affiliations and motives behind this attack are still unknown and—"

Angrboda turned off the television set and smiled to herself.

_"Found him."_


	2. Surrender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Set during the first Avengers movie (2012)]

Angrboda panted for breath as she spotted the unmistakable facade of the National Institute of Bioresource Technology that she'd seen earlier on television. She couldn't remember the last time she'd raced so fast and pitied the civilians who had the misfortune of standing in her way.

The scene she witnessed was that of total chaos. People exited the building screaming in horror and a dozen police cars surrounded the area. Panic was almost palpable.

Angrboda climbed on top of a nearby building and kept her eyes locked on the entrance of the establishment, waiting for Loki to come out so she could take him by surprise.

She finally spotted him amidst the crowd. He was walking out, painstakingly slow, parading like a peacock in his gold armour and horned helmet.  _Yes, there was no doubt about it; it was definitely Loki._

Angrboda squinted slightly, spotting her Scepter in his right hand. She saw him wave the Scepter, blasting the police cars and flipping them over under the horrified screams of the crowd.

He stood in front of the masses and said something which Angrboda was too far away to hear. People continued to run and fret in every direction, almost ignoring his presence. It clearly must've angered Loki because the next thing he said, he screamed so loudly that even she, from her spot on top of the building, was able to hear it.

"I said, KNEEL BEFORE ME!"

A deadly silence fell over the crowd. It reeked of sheer terror, making Angrboda almost scoff when they all began to kneel in front of Loki, one after the other.

A satisfied grin spread over her former companion's face as he opened his arms out, clearly enjoying every bit of this moment.

"Is this not simpler?" He began in a solemn tone "Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity," he paused to see the effect of his words on the crowd "You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

Angrboda snorted in disdain, rolling her eyes.  _What a fool he is..._

It was her cue to jump in. He was too busy terrorising the Earthlings, his guard was as low as it would ever be.

She got to feet, preparing to jump to the ground but suddenly a figure in red, blue and white appeared out of, seemingly, nowhere. A frown spread on her face as she scrutinised the newcomer. He stood tall, a circular shield in his right hand, clearly not intimidated by the God of Mischief. They exchanged a few words but again, Angrboda was too far to hear.

That's when she noticed the grumbling of an engine above their heads. She looked up and saw a monstrous jet plane hovering over everybody. It must've been where the man in the blue suit had jumped out from. A feminine voice rose from the speakerphones of the plane:

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down!"

Before she knew it, several machine guns popped out of the bottom of the plane, all aimed at Loki.

The frown on Angrboda's face deepened as she was both intrigued and irritated by the newcomers. She didn't know who these people were but they were ruining her chance to retrieve her Scepter.

Nevertheless, the combat was growing more intense. Loki fired a blast of blue-tinted energy at the plane but whoever was piloting manoeuvred it just in time to dodge the beam.

Angrboda gasped in shock. In all the years the Scepter had been in her possession, she had  _never_  been able to wield that kind of power out of it. In truth, she didn't know that kind of power  _could_  be wielded in the first place.

Loki continued to fire blast after blast at the blue-suited man whose shield was strong enough to resist the attacks.

Angrboda's head throbbed;  _there must've been a mistake_.  _She_  was the guardian of the Chitauri Scepter, how could it be possible that Loki, of all people, was controlling it better than she ever did... How could she not  _know_  the Scepter was capable of producing  _energy_. She felt like a fool for only ever using the blade as a weapon. Clearly the Chitauri Scepter was more than that.

She couldn't bear watch and do nothing anymore. She took a run-up and jumped off the top of the building, landing effortlessly on the ground.

A few meters away, Loki and the man were clashing brutally. He flung Loki to the ground before throwing his shield at him but Loki managed to swat it away at the last second. The human was then knocked down to his knees and Loki stood triumphantly over him, pointing the Scepter's tip on his helmet.

Angrboda's heart thumped in her chest as she prepared herself to launch forward and intervene... But the sound of harsh, metallic  _music_ resonated from an unknown source, stopping her dead in her tracks.

A man in a full red and yellow armour suit flew over, landing right between the two men. Without giving anybody time to react, he blasted Loki right back to the ground.

The first man in the blue suit jumped in to grab the Scepter before Loki could wrap his head around what has just happened.

Angrboda still stood her grounds, a few meters away, although nobody had noticed her presence so far. Frankly she felt completely useless at that moment. This was the last thing she'd expected; all she wanted was to retrieve her Scepter and yet she found herself peeking at a battle that had nothing to do with her.

Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets when she saw the armoured man pull out every piece of weaponry his suit had and aim it at Loki who had no other option but to put his hands up and surrender.

She was stunned, more than stunned, she was  _suspicious_. Loki had barely put up a fight and now he just  _surrendered_? This was something the man she had known all those years ago would never do... But perhaps he wasn't that man anymore, after all.

She watched them cuff him and embark him into the jet... It suddenly dawned on her that they were embarking  _her Scepter too._  If she didn't act fast she'd lose it to those humans.

Without wasting another second, Angrboda ran as fast as she could to the jet, just as it was taking off the ground. With a mighty jump, she grabbed on to one of the flaps and stabilised herself on the plane's wing. The plane rose quickly several feet above the ground in a loud rumble.

The cold air in altitude hit her like a whip, breezing sorely through her hair. The plane kept increasing in speed and the wind soon became a fierce rustling, loud enough to drown out the sound of the engine.

She kept holding on fiercely to the spars, trying to work her way to the cockpit but she could barely move at all with so little to hold on to. Her legs and arms were already starting to ache and she didn't know how long she could stay in that position.

**⁂**

In the interior of the jet, Agent Natasha Romanoff sat in the pilot seat, watching the skyline with a worried crease above her brows. The domineering voice of Nick Furry came out of her headset, punctuated by a few crackles:

"Has he said anything?" the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D asked.

Natasha glanced to the back of the plane, where Loki was tied up and handcuffed, watched over by Steve and Tony.

"Not a word," she sighed.

"Just get him here, we're low on time," he berated before cutting the communication line.

At the back of the jet, Tony had removed his helmet and noticed Steve's deeply concerned frown. The Captain was watching Loki like a hawk but it didn't seem like it was necessary. Loki had made no attempt to escape, in fact he had made no move at all. He simply sat there, in his handcuffs, completely impassible like he'd been put in some sort of trance.

Steve breathed in deeply, crossing his arms over his chest "I don't like it," he muttered to Tony.

"What? Santa's Reindeer giving up so easily?" Tony smirked, in reference to Loki.

"This guy is strong, it wasn't supposed to be that easy,"

"We took away his stick," Tony remarked, pointing at the Scepter "It was game over after that."

Steve seemed unconvinced but didn't bother arguing any further. He paused for a second, lost in his thoughts before looking back at Tony.

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."

This made the other man shrug "Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."

Steve was about to respond when their exchange was cut off by a sharp beeping sound coming from the dashbord at the front.

"Boys, it looks like we have a stowaway on board," Natasha called out making the two men rush to the cockpit.

"What?"

She pushed on a few buttons, turning off the siren "The weight detectors are telling me there's an unidentified mass on the right wing."

"Could it be a bird or something?" Steve asked.

Natasha scoffed "At this altitude?"

"Alright, I'm on it," Tony dropped before putting his helmet back on "Keep an eye on Rock of Ages over there."

Natasha opened the ramp for Tony to fly off. The rockets on the hands and feet of his suit allowed him to land effortlessly on the roof of the jet.

**⁂**

In truth, Tony didn't expect to find much on that wing. But to his astonishment, there was indeed someone up there: a woman, no less, holding on to the jet engine with her bare hands, while the plane was in mid air at high speed. It certainly wasn't something you saw everyday.

Angrboda hadn't expected for the humans to find her either, much less the one who had disarmed Loki earlier; but there he was, the metal man, casually leaned against the air brake of the plane like it was the most natural thing in the world. She was a mess in comparison, hair flowing in all directions as she struggled to maintain her balance.

"Who the hell are you?" he called out.

She panted, trying to speak loudly over the howling of the wind "Angrboda... of... Jötunheim!"

Tony puffed inside his armour suit "Yeah, I figured you weren't from around here."

"I'm the owner of the Chitauri Scepter; I demand that you give it back to me!" she grabbed on to one of the horizontal stabilisers, managing to get into a standing position so she could be on the same level as the metal man.

"That shiny stick, Rudolph was waving around?"

His obnoxious tone was already starting to irritate her "It's one of the most powerful weapons in the universe you fool!"

She hurled herself at him and brought a fist to his helmeted face. Tony had no time to dodge and the strength of the blow knocked him down across the length of the jet. He quickly got back up, getting into a fighting stance.

"Jeez, you can really hold your own, can't you?"

She smirked "You have no idea."

Tony fired a blast in her direction but she evaded it skilfully. The second blast hit her right on the side. She ignored the gush of pain jolting through her abdomen and jumped using all her strength, landing right behind him. A forceful kick was enough for him to lose his balance. They both tumbled to the ground —or rather the jet's roof— as she bombarded him with punches.

The sound of thunder rumbled in the distance and a deafening bolt of lightening  streaked the sky at that moment, taking them both by surprise. Angrboda froze for a second and her face immediately fell.

_"Oh no..."_

He took the opportunity of this distraction to push her off of him "What's the matter?" he puffed "Can't handle a little lightning?"

Even through the thick atmosphere and the heavy wind, Tony could see her rolling her eyes  _"Wait 'til you see what follows."_


	3. A Little Lightning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Set during the first Avengers movie (2012)]

_"What's the matter?" Tony puffed "Can't handle a little l_ ightning _?"_

_Even through the thick atmosphere and the heavy wind, Tony could see her rolling her eyes "Wait 'til you see what follows."_

_~_

Just as he was about to ask what on earth she meant by that, right on cue, a mammoth of a man landed in one swift thwack on top of the cockpit, a few meters away from them.  _The mighty Thor in the flesh._

"Oh come on!" Tony exclaimed "Who's that guy now? A friend of yours?"

Angrboda chuckled in spite of herself "Not exactly."

He didn't seem to notice either of them and before they knew it, he had ripped open the door of the plane and disappeared inside.

Tony couldn't believe what he was seeing and quickly seemed to forget he was in the middle of an unfinished fight.

"What the hell is he doing?!"

Angrboda let out a short sigh "Isn't it obvious? He's here to free Loki!"

Barely a few seconds later, they watched in consternation as Thor flew right back where he came from, grabbing Loki by the collar in one hand and his hammer in the other.

Tony spoke into the interphone integrated in his helmet "Cap, what just happened?"

"I don't know Stark," Steve answered from the inside of the plane "He just grabbed Loki and jumped off!"

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha's voice resonated.

"Doesn't matter," Tony snapped "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost!"

Angrboda, who had been listening to the entire exchange, scoffed "He won't kill Loki you bloody idiot, it's his brother!"

"Tony who's on that roof?" Natasha called out "What are you still doing outside?"

"She's also an Asgardian, it's open season apparently," Tony shrugged.

"I am not from Asgard!' she protested.

Tony brushed away her remark "Whatever lady, get off the plane; I have more important things to deal with," he then spoke into the interphone again "Rogers, you take care of her, I'm going after Loki."

Next thing she knew, he had flown off in the same direction where Thor had gone. Angrboda wiped the blood that had pearled from the corner of her mouth.

"Like hell you are," she spat  _"Loki's mine!"_

And with that, she jumped off the plane without a second of hesitation.

⁂

Back inside the jet, Steve stared out the window, trying to process what he'd just seen.

"Is she gone too?" Natasha asked, skilfully managing the joystick as to avoid the frequent bolts of lighting.

Steve caught a final glimpse at Angrboda, free falling to the ground "Yep, she jumped."

"That's insane," Natasha breathed "Do you think she's working for Loki?"

"No idea, but we need to find him first, we'll worry about her later,"

Natasha glanced back at Steve and found him adjusting a parachute around his chest.

"I'd sit this one out if I were you, Cap."

Steve shook his head "I don't see how I can."

"These Asgardians come from legends, they're basically Gods."

He shrugged "And now we've got three on our hands; that's two more than Stark can handle."

And with that, Captain America jumped out of the jet. Natasha closed the ramp and made the plane gradually lose altitude so she could settle on the ground.

⁂

A few dozen miles away, somewhere out in upstate New York, Loki and Thor toppled to the ground with full force, sending a cloud of dirt and moss in the air along their path.

Thor grabbed his mighty hammer, Mjölnir, wanting nothing more than to smash his brother's face in with it.

In truth his insides were a whirlwind of conflicted emotions. The last time he'd seen him, Loki was hanging off an abyss. He though his brother was gone forever  _and yet_ , there he was, alive as ever; with that everlasting pompous look on his face. Thor would've almost preferred not to see his brother again than to find him in this fashion, scheming a plot to take over Earth.

"Where is the Tesseract?!" he asked.

Loki let out a short laugh as he struggled to sit up "I missed you too."

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?!" Thor roared dropping Mjölnir, which caused the ground to quake slightly; he sighed much more calmly "I thought you dead, brother..."

Loki drowned a chuckle "Did you mourn?"

"We all did," Thor sent him a dark look.

"That's unfortunate," Loki walked back a few steps, drawing a bigger wedge between them "I've seen worlds you've never known, Odinson! I have grown in my exile," he spat "I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it not a soul will stand in my way again."

"Who showed you this power? Who gave you the Tesseract?!"

"I don't have it!" Loki exclaimed, watching his brother's face fall "What's the matter? You needed the cube to return home, didn't you? Well I've sent it off I know not where!"

Thor grabbed him by the collar "You listen well brother I—"

He was cut off abruptly by a forceful tackle that sent him tumbling to the ground. He quickly got back up to see none other than Angrboda bent over Loki, smashing her fist into his face.

"You bloody SNAKE," she screamed "Where is it? WHERE IS IT?!"

Loki chuckled as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth "Ah Angrboda! I was wondering when  _you_  were going toshow up."

She hurled herself forward and straddled him, grabbing his throat in her palm "I will claw your eyes out Loki Laufeyson, WHERE IS MY SCEPTER?!"

He took another punch with a grimace of pain and yet, kept talking with that sultry tone of his "You learned of my parentage too? News travel fast I see."

Loki wasn't even trying to defend himself nor fend her off which had the effect of enraging her even more. She would've killed him already if she didn't need him to tell her where the Scepter was first.

She was about to throw another punch when a large hand wrapped around her forearm and pulled her away. Unsurprisingly, it was Thor coming the rescue of his vermin of a brother.

"Angrboda?!" he exclaimed, still having a hard time believing she was right there in front of him.

She shot him a piercing look "Hello, Thor."

"What are you doing here?"

"Is this the welcome I get?" she smirked dusting off her clothes "After a few hundred years I thought you'd be happier to see me."

His face was impassible "You shouldn't be here; your place is in Jötunheim!"

"And I would still be there if your brother had not stolen something from me!" she retorted in irritation before turning back to Loki "Now, he's going to pay."

She tried to attack Loki again but Thor reacted more quickly and wrapped his arms around her, holding her back.

"Let me go Thor or I'll make you regret this!" she wrestled with all her strength but Thor's arms were closed in on her like steel rods.

Just as she was about to kick him in the ribs, a small thud attracted their attention. The Iron Man landed in front of them, in all his metal glory. The helmet opened up and Tony's sharp gaze seemed to dig holes through them.

"Don't mean to break up the little family reunion, but I'm gonna need this guy back," he announced pointing at Loki.

Angrboda groaned finally breaking free of Thor's hold "You, again?!"

"Stay out of this metal man," the God of Thunder ordered "You don't know what you're dealing with."

"What I'm dealing with? Shakespeare in the park?" Tony smirked knowing full well the reference would go over their heads... and unsurprisingly, it did.

"This is beyond you. Loki will face Asgardian justice," Thor added.

"Not before he faces  _my_  justice," Angrboda scoffed.

"If he gives up the Tesseract, he's all yours. Until then, you two need to stay out of my way,"Tony spat " _Tourists_..."

His helmet clamped shut and he turned on his heel, walking away. Before anyone knew what was happening, Thor pulled Mjölnir and threw it in Iron Man's direction, knocking him clear across into a tree.

Angrboda glanced in Loki's direction and found him watching the altercation with an insufferably amused look. She rolled her eyes and focused her energy in her fingertips, using her levitation powers to hoist the tree and use it like a racquet to kick Tony right into the side of a nearby hill.

Her face broke into half a smile "I didn't think you and I would be on the same side of a fight anytime soon."

Thor couldn't help but chuckle "You're much stronger than I remember."

Angrboda grinned " _You haven't seen half of it._ "

She used her power to break off a large boulder from a ledge nearby and dropped it over the Iron Man. Luckily for him, he had the good sense to fly off at the last second and avoid being buried under a thousand pounds of rocks.

Thor raised his arm and Mjölnir flew back to his hand. He lifted the hammer over his head, summoning a bolt of lightning, but he took too long to swing. Tony was already up, using his hand boosters to fire a blast of energy, knocking Thor right on his behind. He then flew back up and tackled Angrboda with full force, knocking her into a tree, replicating what she had done to him earlier.

"Alright kids, playtime's over," Tony announced "Jarvis, power at 400% capacity."

"Very well, sir," the metallic voice in his suit replied.

He continued to fend them off as Thor and Angrboda attacked him even more brutally. With his suit gathering four times as much energy, the two of them against him alone had become an even fight.

Suddenly, an unmistakable circular shield flew in. It ricocheted off all three of them, knocking them to the ground and putting a momentary halt to the fight. They looked up to see none other than Captain America standing on top of a fallen tree with the shield back in his hand.

"That's enough!" he exclaimed jumping off and walking towards them. He peered at the two warriors from outer space and said "I don't know what you two plan on doing here..."

Thor breathed in deeply "We're here to put an end to Loki's scheme!"

This made Angrboda frown and cross her arms over her chest "Speak for yourself. I'm here to kick his ass."

Steve put his hands up as a sign of truce "Alright, alright..." he turned to Angrboda "First of all, you, let go of that tree,"

Angrboda sighed and dropped the tree she was levitating which fell to the ground with a massive thud.

"And you," Steve continued, talking to Thor "Put the hammer down... We're all on the same side here."

Thor eased off ever-so-slightly but didn't let go off the hammer.

Tony's helmet unclasped and he heaved a long sigh. He looked around as all four of them stood there, recuperating. Loki was also still there, albeit a bit further away. He had made no attempt to flee during the entire battle. He probably knew full well it would be of no use to run away at this point. Even if they were busy beating the hell out of each other, in the end, all four super-warriors were after  _him_.

Silence had fallen for a few seconds until they heard a high whooshing sound coming closer. The jet finally settled on the grass next to them and the ramp opened, revealing Natasha casually strolling out, holding a pair of vibranium handcuffs. Her eyes scanned the scene and landed on Tony and Steve, then Angrboda and Thor and finally Loki.

"Well, this is far less chaotic than I expected," she dropped, walking closer to the group.

"It's okay, we've called a truce here," Steve said but his tone betrayed a hint of uncertainty.

"Right..." she trailed off and then held up the handcuffs "So, should I do it or does someone else want to do the honors?"

Angrboda glanced at Loki and her face broke into a satisfied grin " _I will_."


	4. Angie

The sound of the engine buzzed in the background, alleviating the heavy silence inside the jet as all five super warriors sat, recuperating from the eventful night they just had.

The last thing Angrboda had expected was to team up with Thor and the other humans in order to arrest Loki. She certainly hadn't expected to be heading back to their headquarters either...  _but there she was_.

During the plane ride, Angrboda came to learn many unexpected things. She's told that Tony, Steve and Natasha worked for S.H.I.E.L.D, an organisation aimed at protecting Earth and defeating any threat that looms over it — which clearly included Loki.

In truth, she was reticent to follow them at first. They were only humans after all...  _but humans who'd given her a real run for her money during a fight_. Although she didn't trust them fully yet, it was certainly something that commanded respect. 

She was brought out of her thoughts by the incessant babbling of Steve. He was going on about some man called  _Fury_  who — if she understood well — had launched the operation for Loki's arrest. He also mentioned another man who could supposedly turn into a giant green monster; but she was only listening distractedly.

A small silence settled but Tony was the one to break it; she caught his eye and he cleared his throat "Ang..." he hesitated before clearing his throat again "You know what, I'm just going to call you  _Angie_."

Angrboda stared at him callously "Absolutely not."

This made the others chuckle for some reason, but Tony seemed unfazed.

"Right, so let me get this straight, the Scepter that Loki was using actually belongs to Angie?"

Angrboda let out a short sigh "That's right..."

"And who gave the Scepter to you?"

"My old mentor, Grimolf. He gave me the responsibility of guarding the Scepter, right before he died."

"And you did a marvellous job at that," she heard Thor mutter under his breath.

Angrboda shot him a dark look "Almost as marvellous as you did keeping your brother on a leash,  _Odinson_."

Thor didn't bother to reply and kept a hard and composed face.

"Brace yourselves for the landing!" Natasha called out from the pilot seat and truly enough, the jet settled almost immediately on a hard surface that wasn't exactly ground.

As she got out of the plane, Angrboda could see that Steve hadn't lied when he said S.H.I.E.L.D's headquarters consisted of a colossal aerial vehicle. They called it  _the Helicarrier_ and it stood approximately 30,000 feet above the ground. She couldn't lie and say she wasn't impressed.

About a dozen heavily armed men arrived quickly to escort Loki into what she guessed was a high-security cell. He made no attempt to resist whatsoever, instead walking calmly along with the agents.

Angrboda breathed in, relieved to have him out of her sight. She looked down at her hand, infinitely appeased by having the Scepter back in her possession. It would've been a lie to pretend the Scepter was the same as it was when she last held it: there was now a stone between the metal blades that definitely wasn't there before.

She could tell the stone was the source of the energy she had seen Loki wielding when he was fighting against Steve earlier in the night. It was still unnerving to think about the changes he'd made to  _her_  Scepter. Nevertheless, she was determined to find out everything that stone was capable of as soon as she got back to Jötunheim.

**⁂**

Soon enough, they were also approached by an agent who escorted them into a vast area filled with computers and other agents working on them. Angrboda was stunned by all the machinery and advanced technology the humans had developed.

In comparison, Thor seemed much more comfortable in this environment than she was, making her wonder just how much time he had really spent on earth.

Tony had disappeared almost as soon as they had landed but Natasha led her, along with Steve and Thor, into a room surrounded by glass door, on an elevated tier. There, a man in a lab coat stood, absorbed by the holographic data floating around him. He looked up upon hearing them enter and grabbed the bluish figures, putting them back into the screen.

"Dr Banner," Natasha said "Making some progress I hope?"

He took off his glasses with a small frown "I would if I had the—"

He froze upon seeing the Scepter in Angrboda's hand, he eyed her curiously "Is that...?"

"The Chitauri Scepter, yes," she nodded.

He pulled out his hand "I don't think we've met, I'm Doctor Bruce Banner, nuclear physicist."

Angrboda glanced at his hand still extended toward her and wondered what on earth she was supposed to do with it. It was probably another Earthling custom she wasn't familiar with.

"This is Angie," Natasha said with a chuckle "She's not from around here."

Bruce smiled and relaxed his arm back to his side "You don't say."

"The name is Angrboda," she corrected "of Jötunheim."

"We managed to catch Loki," Steve told Bruce "And it turns out he had stolen the Scepter from her."

"Would you mind if I ran some tests on it?" Bruce asked her "We need to put all chances on our side if we want to stop whatever Loki's cooked up."

Angrboda glanced at the Scepter in her hand and then looked around the room, unsure. Her gaze landed on Thor who was standing in retreat and hadn't said a word until then. He gave her an encouraging nod.

"Very well," she sighed "You may study it for now; but I'm warning you, I won't be here for long and once I leave for Jötunheim, the Scepter leaves with me."

"That's fine," he nodded, taking the Scepter and placing it on a stand at the centre of the table nearby.

Natasha heaved a long sigh and took a seat around said table before glancing at Thor who still hadn't said anything.

"Fury will interrogate Loki but he will probably drag it out... so Thor tell us, what's his plan?"

All four pairs of eyes turned to Thor who finally came out of his thoughts "He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"The Chitauri are the original creators of my Scepter," Angrboda said "I thought Loki was the one who stole it from me, but I think it could be them."

"That's possible," Thor nodded "They could've put it in Loki's hand afterwards."

"Wait, wait, wait," Steve put his hands up "Did I hear this right? You're saying Loki has an  _army_ from outer space?"

Angrboda shrugged "But the Chitauri are lightyears away, how could they possibly be a threat to Earth?"

Bruce furrowed his eyebrows "He might be building another portal to get them here... that's what he needs Erik Selvig for!"

Thor perked up "Selvig?!"

"Yes, he's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend."

"Loki put him under some kind of spell with the Scepter," Natasha said "Along with another agent of ours, Clint."

"A spell?" Angrboda repeated "My Scepter doesn't have that kind of power," she said, but the uncertainty was clear in her tone.

Natasha walked over to the stand that held the Scepter and pointed at its hand where a blue stone shined "I don't know what kind of power Loki has conjured but it all seems to come from that thing."

It was Steve's turn to intervene "I want to know why Loki let us take him so easily. He can't possibly lead an army from his cell."

"You're right," Angrboda agreed "I saw the whole thing, he surrendered rather quickly. It's very unlike him."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," Bruce said "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell the crazy on him."

"Have a care how you speak," Thor protested "Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

Angrboda sniggered mockingly "Well according to what  _I_   heard, he's neither your brother nor from Asgard. Or have you forgotten that already?"

Thor shot her a dark look "He was your  _companion_ , or have you forgotten that already?"

"What... really?" Steve exclaimed "You and Loki were a thing?!"

This made Angrboda roll her eyes "Only a few hundred years ago."

"What I care about is that your brother killed eighty people in two days," Natasha pointed a finger at Thor.

The latter cleared his throat uneasily "Well, he's... adopted."

Meanwhile, Bruce was still deep in his thoughts "Iridium..." he muttered more to himself than for the others "What did they need the Iridium for?"

"It's a stabilising agent. It means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D," Tony took everyone by surprise as he walked in unannounced, out of his Iron Man suit. His eyes landed on Angrboda and he smirked, rubbing his shoulder "You had a nice blow earlier, Angie, my arm is still taking the heat," he then turned to Thor "And you've got a mean swing Point Break... no hard feelings."

Angrboda didn't know how exactly she should take his comment, but regardless, he had already turned back to Bruce, without waiting for a response.

"It's good to meet you, Dr Banner," Tony told him "Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled... And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

Bruce shook his hand with a self-deprecating laugh "Thanks."

"Also, using iridium means the portal can open as wide and for as long as Loki wants," Tony continued.

"So that's why Loki was at the Institute that night," Steve remarked.

Natasha furrowed her brows "But is that all he needs to make the portal?"

Tony shrugged fatalistically "Agent Barton can get his hands on the rest of the raw materials pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source, a high energy density.

"Something to kick start the cube, you mean?" Angrboda asked.

"That's right."

"What kind of power source could do that?" Thor wondered.

Bruce frowned "He would have to heat the Tesseract to a few million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier."

"Unless..." Tony trailed off dramatically "Selvig has figured out how to stabilise the quantum tunnelling effect."

Bruce's eyes widened "Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet!"

"You lost me at Coulomb barrier," Natasha chuckled.

If she were honest, Angrboda couldn't keep up with the exchange either. Bruce and Tony clearly knew what they were talking about but all the others seemed as baffled as she was.

"Before anything, we need to track the cube though," Tony said pensively.

"Why don't we start with the stick?" Steve offered.

"It's a Scepter," Angrboda corrected "And I highly doubt it follows the laws of nature."

"Well it may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

Tony furrowed his eyebrows "I don't know about that, but it is definitely powered by the cube."

"And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn Clint and Selvig into his own personal lap dogs," Natasha added gravely.

Tony glanced at Bruce with a sharp smirk "Shall we play doctor?"

Bruce put his glasses back on "Let's play some."

Angrboda got to her feet, feeling like it was the best time to take her leave "You have until tomorrow, gentlemen. After that, I'll be taking the Scepter back with me to Jötunheim," she dropped, eyeing the two scientists and in particular Tony, who nodded but didn't seem like he'd follow through in the slightest bit.


	5. Everything You Think You Know

Angrboda was approached by an agent who showed her the quarters put at her disposition. She left the door half open and walked in with silent curiosity. It was a spacious room, brightly lit by fluorescent lights and minimally furnished with a bed and a beside table.

"Hope you're making yourself comfortable."

She jumped in surprise and turned around to find a man, whom she had not heard come in, standing in the door frame. She'd never seen him before, but the slightly patronising tone and, mostly, the eye patch, gave her a pretty good idea of the newcomer's identity.

"It'll do for one night," she said.

He breathed in and took a few steps towards her "I'm Colonel Nick Fury the—"

"I know who you are," she nodded "I know all about your organisation by now."

He had his hand extended toward her and Angrboda remembered how Tony had done the same to Bruce earlier. She recalled Bruce shaking Tony's hand and figured that's what Fury was expecting her to do now... Her hesitation made him chuckle but she finally did shake his hand, albeit awkwardly.

"And I know about  _you_ , Angrboda of Jötunheim," he took a few steps towards her "I know you are an exceptional warrior with great powers..."

She smirked "You flatter me Colonel, what do you want?"

"We could use someone like you on our team."

She cocked her brow before shaking her head categorically "Not interested."

Fury heaved a short sigh, his glare seemed to dig holes through her "How much do you actually know about the Tesseract, Angrboda?"

"I know it's a vessel for the Space Stone," she said "I heard it was kept in Odin's vault until it was brought to earth a few centuries ago."

Fury nodded "That's correct. There are six stones in total. The Space Stone is the most powerful one, by far; making the Tesseract the most dangerous weapon in the universe"

Angrboda paused for a second and suddenly her eyes widened in shock "My Scepter... Loki also put a stone on it, didn't he?! That's why it's so much more powerful than the last time I held it."

Fury leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest "You got it, it's the Mind Stone. I don't know where the hell he got it from but it's there now, we have to work with it."

"You mean  _I_  have to work with it. The Scepter's still mine, Colonel."

He tried hard not to roll his eyes "The tesseract was under our protection too, until Loki stole it using your Scepter."

"I'm aware."

"And now he's given it to an even more dangerous enemy in exchange for enslaving humanity," Fury continued.

"That's unfortunate," Angrboda shrugged callously "What's it got to do with me?"

Fury breathed in deeply "The tesseract is more powerful than you imagine. It has the potential to wipe out entire worlds in a matter of seconds and now it has fallen into the wrong hands; does that mean nothing to you?"

Angrboda didn't like his domineering tone in the slighest bit "Listen Fury," she spat "I made my terms very clear. I am only here to retrieve my Scepter and I shall be on my way back to Jötunheim soon. I am not Thor, the Earth means nothing to me, why should I risk my life for it?"

"Because the entire universe is at risk, not just the Earth," he answered gravely.

She shook her head resolutely "I'm sorry, my answer is still no."

Fury stayed silent for a second "As you wish," he said in a much calmer tone.

"I only have one request though."

"What is it?"

"I want to speak to Loki before I go."

**⁂**

The sound of several pairs of boots click-clacked gratifyingly on the pristine floor as Angrboda was escorted across the long corridors of the Helicarrier. She passed by one of the labs which was lined by glass windows, allowing her to catch a glimpse of Tony and Bruce who were still working hard on finding the Tesseract.

They both watched her as she walked by, their faces displaying a mixture of concern and curiosity. No doubt that Fury had put them up to speed as to where she was heading.

She entered the detention section of the Helicarrier, a vast room with all sorts of intricate control panels. Loki was confined in a large glass cell held by four hydraulic rigs.

He didn't seem fazed in the slightest bit seeing her walk in. Angrboda got closer to the glass wall, facing his insufferable smirk and calm demeanour. The silence between them was heavy, as neither of them seemed to want to break eye contact. Angrboda finally spoke:

"You know, for a long time I wondered what attracted me to a madman like you all those years ago..." she began in a tone heavy with scorn "It's only when the entirety of Jötunheim learned you were the son of Laufey that I understood. It was never  _you_  that I was drawn to, it was the  _Jötnar_  in you."

This made Loki snigger "You are quite the chauvinist for someone who was born and raised in Asgard."

"Maybe," she shrugged "But at least my compensation doesn't involve reigning over the mediocre might of earth."

"No, clearly your standards have fallen quite low since the last time I saw you... " he spat "The woman I knew was a fierce and ambitious one but  _you_... you're a scanty little thing who convinces herself she's in control."

Angrboda shot him a dark look "Cheap libel don't intimidate me, Laufeyson. After all, I have retrieved my scepter and you're the one behind the glass, are you not?"

Loki stayed quiet for long unnerving seconds before beginning to laugh quietly "Poor,  _oblivious_  Angrboda... You are naive indeed."

"Don't taunt me with your delirious jabs, Loki. Speak your mind or be quiet."

He chuckled again "You claim the scepter is yours, but is it really?"

"I was chosen to be the guardian of that Scepter," her face was impassible "I earned that title through years of discipline you couldn't even fathom."

"And who put the Scepter in your hand at the end?" he challenged.

"The master who trained me," she answered though she could tell the question was rhetorical "Grimolf was his name."

Loki burst in provoking laughter " _And you believed it_ , you poor fool!"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you were never the guardian of anything," he dropped maliciously " _That master of yours is a servant of Thanos_."

Angrboda's stomach dropped "Thanos, the mad titan?!

"The one and only..." he sniggered "He chose you to watch over the Scepter so its location would be hidden from his enemies."

Angrboda could feel her breath coming out more shallow "That's ridiculous...  _why me_?"

"That's a question I've asked myself many times dear Angrboda..." Loki said, walking around in the confined space of his cell "I guess they needed somebody strong enough not to lose the scepter yet  _insignificant_  enough to fall under the radar..."

Angrboda shot him a dirty look. She wanted to respond with an even nastier comment but the words failed her. She had a bad feeling about what other secrets Loki could uncover.

"Once they found a new purpose for the Scepter," he continued "Grimolf took it right back from you and gave it to  _me_  so I could control the Chitauri army and fulfil my destiny."

"But... Grimolf is dead!" she protested "He's been dead for years!"

This made Loki smack the glass between them in an abrupt fit of irritation "Wake up Angrboda!" he berated "You were only a pawn in Thanos' plan;  _everything you think you know is a lie!"_

The lump in her throat seemed to grow bigger and she hoped Loki wouldn't see how much his revelations affected her "I don't understand... if Thanos used me to hide the scepter why wasn't the stone on it when he gave it to me?"

"The stone's powers are unleashed only when it is in a proper vessel. The Scepter is made of vibranium, it's one of the few weapons in the universe suitable to hold an infinity stone, I'm sure you know that better that anybody... But Grimolf is no fool, he couldn't possibly put something as powerful as the Mind stone in your  _feeble_  responsibility."

Angrboda ran a hand through her hair, realising what this all meant "So he only entrusted me with the vessel but not the stone itself..."

Loki nodded with a spiteful smirk "That's correct."

She stayed silent for a second and took a few steps backward, still trying to wrap her head around all he had told her. She couldn't hide how betrayed and vulnerable she felt at that moment and it made her feel even more exposed. She finally looked up to meet his penetrating gaze "I cannot believe how far you've gone Loki... allying yourself with Thanos?!" she exclaimed "And all for what? To reign over a world as idle as Earth?!"

His fists pounded the glass even more forcefully, making her shudder "I am the son of a King!" he roared "It is my destiny to reign!"

"You're an even bigger scum than Laufey was!" she scoffed "I hope you realise there's no coming back from this. Asgard will  _never_  take you back and I'll personally see to it that you  _never_  set a foot in Jötunheim again!"

She turned on her heels and began to walk away, determined to put an end to this dreadful conversation. If she had stayed facing him though, Angrboda would've seen the abhorrent grin spreading on Loki's face.

   

"I certainly won't...  _unfortunately neither will you"_

She froze dead in her tracks and turned back around "What did you just say?"

"Indeed I'll never set a foot in Jötunheim... because  _there is no_   _Jötunheim anymore_."

It felt like the air was knocked out of her chest  _"What?!"_

Loki stood in the middle of his cell, his eyes not leaving Angrboda for a second "Jötunheim is home to some of the most powerful beings of the nine realms and Thanos always hated the Jötnars for it... " he trailed off "The first thing he did once he reunited the Scepter and the Mind Stone was to  _destroy Jötunheim completely."_

Her hands began to tremble and she was unable to tone down the crack in her voice "I... I don't believe you!"

His repulsive smile grew even wider "He must've done it a short while after you came to Earth to look for me... I should be thanked. It is because of  _me_  that you're alive."

Angrboda's whole body jerked uncontrollably and before she knew it, she was banging on the glass walls with all her strength "You... you... you vermin! How could you allow this, HOW COULD YOU!" tears began streaming down her face "THEY WERE YOUR PEOPLE TOO YOU BLOODY SCUM..." she sobbed " _They were your people too_..."

"Oh no, he didn't just kill them all..." he answered completely indifferent "He  _annihilated_  the entire realm, there is  _nothing_  left of it, not even ashes! Jötunheim has completely disappeared."

Angrboda drew in shallow breaths and her knees buckled under the weight of the revelation he had just made "My father... everyone I know is gone!" her shoulders shook from the sobs "How... how is this possible?!"

"Thanos is more powerful than you can imagine," he told her calmly, but in that moment if Angrboda had been able to look at him, she would've seen a hint of uncertainty cross his eyes, cracking his composed facade.

She finally managed to face him with a much more ferocious glare, filled with all the disgust and hatred one person could possibly muster "You... You're a monster, you betrayed our ancestors, YOU BETRAYED US ALL!"

And with that, she stormed out as fast as she could, wanting to be as far away from Loki as possible. The tears flooding her eyes clouded her vision but she kept running nonetheless.

A few agents of S.H.I.E.L.D noticed the rumble she was making and made feeble attempts to stand in her way but she propelled them ferociously into the nearby wall. She kept running, unaware of her surroundings, Loki's last few words still echoing incessantly in her mind.

She only stopped her race once she felt the howling wind hitting her with full force. Only then did she realise she had reached the exterior of the Helicarrier. Her hands rested on her thighs as she drew in shallow breaths. She finally fell to her knees and screamed of rage and grief, with all the strength in her body, so loud in fact that she knew the Allfather himself heard her anguish.


	6. Home

Angrboda's breath was still coming out in short huffs as she stood on the exterior deck of the Helicarrier. The ice cold wind made her shiver strongly and its rumble drowned out the sound of her own sobs. She leaned against one of the massive metal containers trying to compose herself but hot tears kept streaming down her face.

_Jötunheim is gone... Everyone she cared about is dead... There's nowhere to call home anymore._

The weight of a hand on her shoulder ushered her abruptly out of her thoughts. She didn't need to turn around to recognise the large, rugged hand of Thor and his towering figure behind her. She couldn't bring herself to face him though; no one would get to see her like this,  _never like this_.

"My sympathy is yours, Angrboda. Jötunheim will be avenged, I promise you that..." he said solemnly and Angrboda felt new tears form in her eyes.

He stood there for a second, expecting her to respond but she stayed silent and her back stayed facing him, not budging a millimetre.

"In the mean time, know that you always have a home in Asgard."

He finally turned around without another word and walked back into the aircraft.

It took Angrboda a long time to pull herself together. Her head still pounded but the tears on her cheeks had dried up and her stomach had stopped churning. She walked around, almost robotically along the length of a plane runway until reaching its edge. She dropped down and sat there, her legs dangling into the void, not minding the fact that losing her balance would mean falling several thousand feet to the ground.

It felt strangely cathartic.

How many hours had gone by with her sitting on that runway? She couldn't tell. All awareness of her surroundings was gone and for the first time in a long time, she managed to clear her mind completely.

It wasn't until the first few rays of sunshine peaked on the horizon that she realised she had spent the better part of the night outside. Dawn crept in slowly, quietly, ushering her back to reality though she made no move, enjoying the soft warming rays on the side of her face.

Her peace was disturbed by the sound of short, regular, metallic thwacks coming closer. This time she did peak behind her back and saw, much to her surprise, Tony walking over to her, dressed in his full Iron Man suit. He got to her level and the metal helmet opened up. Thankfully his face showed no pity, as she had dreaded, he only looked slightly apprehensive.

"Hey Angie..."

"You don't need to wear your armour around me," she told him "I won't take my anger out on the aircraft."

"Oh I know..." he smirked and took a seat next to her "I just can't be out here without it, I'd fly right off the deck."

She cracked a small smile, in spite of herself.

"Are you alright?" he asked carefully.

She breathed in "So they told you too?"

"There were cameras around the cell, we watched the whole thing."

"Glad to know I had an audience," she breathed, feeling her eyes growing damp again before shutting them tightly. There was no way she would cry and certainly not in front of Tony "My father is dead, he was the only family I had left. All the Jötnars are dead, my whole world is gone... Aside from that I'm doing great."

"Stupid question, I'm sorry."

"On the bright side, you get to keep the Scepter for much longer since I have nowhere to go now."

"Hey..." he trailed off "You could stay here, you know."

She glanced at him wearily "Well I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"I mean you could have a  _home_  on Earth, Angie."

She turned back to look at the horizon, seemingly pondering his suggestion. It was quite baffling to think she had to consider staying permanently in this realm, knowing how much she had belittled it upon arriving.

"Tell me about Jötunheim," he said "What was it like?"

His question brought her out of her thoughts, making her stare at him incredulously. The request felt incredibly out of place considering the circumstances but, as she had come to learn, Tony was not the kind of man who minded formalities. He had asked it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Honestly? It was a hostile world," she answered " _The home of the Giants_... it was cold and barren, with very little sun, very little crops and a lot of fog."

"Sounds inviting."

She couldn't help but let out a small chuckle "It was anarchic and inhospitable... but despite everything,  _it was home_."

"What about your people... the Jötnars, was it?"

"Jötunheim is..." she cleared her throat " _Was_  home to four kinds of Giants: Storm, Mountain, Frost and Brine."

"Which kind are you?"

"Frost."

He cocked an eyebrow "You don't exactly look like a Giant to me... and I'm not that tall myself. Do Giants come in travel size?"

This time around she laughed silently but earnestly "I'm not a pure-blooded Jötnar."

He eyed her curiously "Meaning?"

"My mother was from Asgard."

"Isn't that where Thor comes from?"

"Yes..." she winced "My father himself was only a descendant of the Frost Giants," she explained "Centuries ago, the Frost Giants entered a war with Bor who was the King of Asgard at the time, and they lost. Their kind was almost completely obliterated and only a few descendants remain... or rather _remained_ ," she corrected herself bitterly "I'm the only one left now."

Tony cleared his throat, clearly looking for things to say. It wasn't often he found himself at a loss for words but it was definitely the case at that moment.

He watched as a sad smile painted on Angrboda's face "Do you want to hear the irony of all this? I was born and raised in Asgard and yet I cling to Jötunheim as my home... I've barely spent a hundred years in it."

"Well, you know, that's more than our entire life span around here."

She breathed in deeply "I envy you earthlings, so little can happen in the short life you're given... there's so few responsibilities."

Tony leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees "I'd say that gives us even more responsibilities."

She paused for a second "Well either way, if I stayed here I'd be just like the rest of you. Maybe there's a positive speck in all this wretchedness."

He furrowed his brows pensively "You mean... if you stay here, you'll age just like a human?"

"That's correct."

He stared at her wide-eyed "That's horrifying."

She let out a small chuckle "Do you know anything about  _shapeshifting_ , Tony?"

"Shapeshifting?" he cocked an eyebrow "As in, transforming?"

"Not exactly," she shook her head "Anyone with Jötnar blood is a shapeshifter by nature, meaning they adjust or change according to the environment they're in; and this happens whether they want to or not."

"What kind of adjustements?"

"Well, since I've been on Earth, my body has began shifting to its humanoid form," she explained _"_ The changes are not visible but they're reflected in my ability to adapt and blend into human society, ageing is also part of that."

"So you're saying your psyche reformats according to environmental stimulus?"

If she were honest, Angrboda didn't fully understand what he'd just said but she hoped it wasn't apparent "Sure."

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed "That's macroevolution on a whole new level!"

"I guess you could call it that."

"But your looks don't change?"

"Well they could... but that's a completely different type of shapeshifting."

"Ha!" he exclaimed "So you can actually  _transform!_ "

"I can replicate someone else's appearance but I don't  _become_  them."

"Bah," he brushed away "Same thing"

"It's not that simple though, in order to shapeshift into someone else I have to know the person inside and out. Not just their looks but also the way they speak, their personality, their mannerisms... I need to form a complete visualisation of them in my mind."

He stayed quiet for a second before looking back at her "That's freaking amazing, your body morphs into the image that your mind has built... Kind of like a projector."

She shrugged "It's a talent not all shapeshifters have, my father taught me how to develop it."

"I'm a big fan already."

The sinking feeling in Angrboda's stomach came surging back. The turn that their conversation had taken almost made her forget what happened to her realm...  _almost_. But now, the mention of her father made all the anger, the sadness and misery come rushing back.

She tried to hold it all in but a bitter chuckle still escaped her lips "He was powerful alright..." she muttered  _"He was also an obnoxious cunt who never had a kind word for me... and now he's dead."_

And then, before she could do anything about it, hot tears began pearling in the corner of her eyes again. Her palms shook as she furiously wiped them off her face, kicking herself internally for being so weak.

Tony, on the other hand, was rigid and stunned. Seeing her burst into tears was the last thing he'd expected... and suddenly, _it was like he was 21 all over again_ , learning of his own parents' death. The emotions came surging back, hitting him with full force, the grief, the denial, the sadness, all in that instant.

He remembered mourning his mother fully and earnestly; his  _father_  however...  _the great Howard Stark who hardly ever seemed to tolerate his own son_... mourning him had been another matter entirely.

Howard had died so suddenly, leaving a world of things unspoken and unresolved... perhaps that was exactly how Angie felt about her own father at that moment and Tony understood her vulnerability better than he could say.

"Angie, come on..." he muttered, trying to put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

_"No,"_  she jerked away abruptly  _"Do not pity me."_

Before he knew it, she was on her feet and rushing back to the interior of the Helicarrier, leaving Tony more bewildered than ever.

Angrboda made her way through the long corridors of the aircraft. She walked quickly and resolutely until she emerged into the main area where hundreds of agents bestirred in front of their individual computers and panel boards. Her entrance was marked by a gradual and imposing silence as everyone's attention set on her. She could practically feel the mixture of discomfort and compassion in every agent's eyes.  _Needless to say she hated every second of it._ No doubt that everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D was up to date with what had happened to her realm.

It didn't take long to catch sight of Nick Fury who stood on a slightly elevated platform, surrounded by half a dozen computer screens and holographic forms. Agents Maria Hill and Phil Coulson stood at his side, also taken aback by her entrance.

She drew in a long breath and walked over to Fury. Before he had a chance to utter a single word, she looked at him square in the face and dropped:

_"I've changed my mind Colonel. That team of yours, the Avengers, or whatever you call it... I'm in."_


	7. Bleak

The next few days went by faster than she expected. Every agent at S.H.I.E.L.D was working hard to monitor looming threats. The main plan was to comb every square meter on the planet for the Gamma Radiations that could help them locate the Tesseract... but judging by how often Nick Fury could be heard throwing a fit, it was clear the search was stagnating.

Meanwhile, Tony and Bruce were spending hours on end locked in the lab. Apparently they had made some interesting findings by studying the Scepter and the Mind Stone but Angrboda quickly gave up trying to understand their obscure scientific gibberish. Instead, she had taken to familiarising herself with the advanced weaponry of S.H.I.E.L.D and spent most of her time training intensely. The Helicarrier had many soundproof rooms with consolidated walls meant for that very purpose. She spent an obscene amount of time in them, being absolutely ruthless with her body. But the physical pain reached her like a small pinch, drowned out by her craving for revenge.

The truth was, she didn't really know what she was preparing for. Thor had said that his brother gathered an army of Chitauri who were known to be ferocious creatures. Although Fury and the others were trying their best to prevent the opening of the portal that would get them to Earth, Angrboda knew the battle against the Chitauri was inevitable. Nevertheless, no one on this side of the universe had ever  _seen_  a Chitauri and it was awfully unsettling to prepare for a battle knowing virtually nothing against your enemy.

Regardless, she practiced relentlessly, only stopping to eat, sleep and occasionally spend time with her fellow Avengers. Unsurprisingly to her, she was still having a hard time working with them, with the exception, perhaps, of Thor and Tony. As it turned out, they were all quite the personalities and putting them in the same room usually ended in a blow of snarky comments and condescending tones.

However, there was one person who had turned out a surprising ally to her in this strange world: Agent Phil Coulson, Fury's right hand. He was a beloved figure at S.H.I.E.L.D and a truly passionate man. As it happened, Angrboda always thought passionate people were a step above everyone else and thus she had taken a quick liking at him.

Somehow, Phil had been a great help in disparaging her initial doubts that still lingered about joining the Avengers. If Fury was a somewhat crude person, Coulson was considerate without making a fuss. It made the settling on this new planet feel a little less brutal.

**⁂**

By the end of the afternoon, that day, Angrboda had been punching into a boxing bag of the fitness room for hours. She huffed, wiping the sweat off her face with a nearby towel and noticed that her mitt gloves were torn at the knuckles.

S.H.I.E.L.D was kind enough to provide her with a considerable supply of clothes but the fabrics they used on Earth were not nearly as resistant as the ones on Jötunheim. Sadly her old clothes – the ones she had come to Earth in – hadn't taken well to all the ruffling around of the other night and were now unwearable. She couldn't bring herself to throw them away, though.

Angrboda had never been one for sentimentalism but this was different. The destruction of her planet had taken a terrible toll on her and she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to move past it. Of course that was understandable by anyone's standards, but not hers. She was the  _Harpy of Jötunheim_ , she was ruthless and calculating, she was fierce and unyielding... but right now, all she could process was how  _bleak_  the world seemed.

Seeing herself in Earthling clothes always came with a twinge. It wasn't the clothes themselves, of course, they were just black and plain, very similar to what Natasha and most female agents would wear. But in those clothes she looked like just another human while she wanted to cling desperately to the last vestige of her life as a Jötnar...it was all terribly, pathetically _bleak._

**⁂**

On her way back to her quarters, Angrboda passed in front of the shooting range, a vast area behind a soundproof glass with guns and targets. She had never really set a foot in that room, being unfamiliar and, mostly, uninterested with the concept. Natasha, however, seemed to spend most of her time in there.

If there was one person around here who looked more on edge than herself, it would have to be the Black Widow. Natasha was working hard to locate Clint Barton, the Agent who was supposedly hypnotised by Loki. Barton had shown no signs of life so far and unsurprisingly, Loki wouldn't spill a word on his whereabouts.

It wasn't surprising that she always came to the shooting range to blow off some steam. Although, if she were honest, Angrboda didn't really understand the appeal of firearms, but clearly Natasha did.

That day too, Angrboda was able to catch a glimpse of her fiery red hair behind the glass and decided to enter, out of sheer curiosity.

She walked in and sat on an elevated bench behind Natasha. The Black Widow was too busy concentrating on her target to take notice of her, not to mention she had a set of sound-blocking ear muffs on her ears. It was better this way, Angrboda was not interested in striking a conversation.

She watched her fire about a dozen shots, never missing a single target. The cartridge must've run out of bullets though, because she soon set the gun down and took off the ear muffs.

_"Are you going to get down here or were you planning on watching me the whole time?"_

She threw the question in the air, not even bothering to turn around, but it was clear she was talking to Angrboda.

She didn't like the other woman's patronising tone and hated being caught off guard like that. Regardless, there was no way she'd stay hiding up on that bench now that Natasha had noticed her presence.

She cleared her throat and walked down the steps hesitantly. Natasha finally deigned to make eye contact once Angrboda got to her level. She watched her pull out another gun, much more massive than the one she was using before. This one had a larger muzzle, an airgun scope and was embedded with metal. It looked more like an assault rifle than an actual pistol.

"Ever fired one of these, Angie?" Natasha showed her the gun like a mother would show off their child.

"We used more...  _hands-on weapons_  in Jötunheim," she answered hoping the hesitation in her voice wouldn't be obvious.

Natasha laughed "I don't know about that but I know this baby could knock out any Chitauri with a single shot."

As some sort of demonstration, Natasha aimed at the target set a few meter away and pulled the trigger. Angrboda's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. She hadn't just hit the target, she had utterly  _destroyed_  it. There was barely a chunk of burned wood left where the blast had hit. As she'd expected, the weapon didn't fire bullets, it fired some sort of particle beam, very similar to what came out of Tony's hand blasters.

Angrboda cleared her throat and glanced back at Natasha, trying to seem less impressed than she actually was "How do you know this would work?" her eyes narrowed "Even  _I_  have never seen a Chitauri in the flesh."

She smiled "You got me there, but they're the best weapons we have around here."

Angrboda heaved a long sigh "At least you're the only one anticipating the Chitauri attack. Everyone else is too busy trying to prevent it, but no one has figured out what to do when it happens."

This made Natasha furrow her brows " _When or if?_ "

A grave look was painted on Angrboda's face "Don't be mistaken Natasha, the Chitauri  _are_  coming."

"You really think Loki will succeed in opening the portal, don't you?"

"Trust me, I know Loki through and through. He is up to something, I can almost smell it."

"There's no way he could escape though, we've put him in one of the most secured cells on the planet."

"But there is still  _something_  going on in that deranged mind of his."

Natasha's expression became gradually more solemn and she went quiet for a few seconds. Thoughts ran through her mind at full speed as she analysed the situation as well as Angie's perspective.

"Okay," she dropped decisively before putting the gun back on the rack "Let's assume you're right. What do you suggest we do?"

This was the million dollar question Angrboda was dreading, mostly because she had absolutely no idea what the next step should be "We figure out what is it he's scheming... and we stop it."

Natasha snorted slightly "Well that's kind of obvious."

She watched as Angrboda's frown deepened. There was something else staining her expression, a certain insecurity you didn't normally see on her face.

And that's when Natasha clicked.

For someone who prided herself on her ability to read people, it certainly had taken her a while to understand what was on Angrboda's mind. But it was evident: after the bomb Loki had dropped the other day – telling her about the destruction of her world – Angrboda must  _shudder_ at the thought of going anywhere near him. She was indirectly asking  _her_  to do it.

Even though Natasha was usually the intimidator rather than the intimidated, not wanting to come face to face with Loki was understandable considering the circumstances.

"Fury has been interrogating him almost every day, we still haven't learned anything new," Natasha said pensively.

"He's dragging it out," Angrboda shrugged "I expected nothing less."

Natasha leaned against the firing stand with a small smirk  _"Lucky for us, I am a much better interrogator than Fury."_

**⁂**

Angrboda bolted down the entire length of the Helicarrier as fast as her legs could carry her. She only stopped running once she reached the research facilities at the other end of the aircraft. She flung the door open, revealing Tony, Bruce and Steve inside the tech lab. They stared at her wide eyed, clearly taken by surprise. Angrboda knew she must've looked insane barging in so abruptly, cheeks flushed and breathing heavily but it was the last of her worries at this point.

"What's going on?"  Tony asked.

"Good. You're all here,"  she said catching her breath "Where are Thor and Fury?"

"Thor's in his quarters and Fury is in the computer room,"  Bruce said "What's the matter?"

"Natasha and I... we did something. I thought I should let you know."

"Great, more surprises,"  Steve rolled his eyes.

"Be quiet Rogers," she snapped "Natasha's interrogating Loki as we speak. We think he's planning something big."

"Like what?"  Bruce asked with a frown.

"Our best guess is that he's going to use the agents he hypnotised to free him. That includes Agent Barton. But we won't know for sure until she's done with him."

"Does Fury know about this?"  Steve asked.

"No, and you better keep it that way until we get something worthwhile,"  she commanded.

"Fury's going to flip when he learns you went behind his back," Tony smirked "But Romanov practically invented intimidation. I'm behind it."

"Well I'm not," Steve protested "If everyone starts doing whatever the hell they feel like without reporting to their superior it wi—"

"Wait,"  Angrboda almost choked "Did you just say  _superior_?"

"Fury is the one who put this team together. You agreed to be a part of it," he spat.

"Okay time out,"  Tony intervened before turning to Steve "Sorry Cap but I gotta agree with Angie on this one; Fury is no superior of mine."

"Why am I not surprised,"  Steve hissed.

All three of them turned to Bruce who had stayed silent. He was caught slightly off guard by their expecting glares.

"Don't look at me,"  he shook his head with a shrug "I just want to finish my work here..."

Angrboda watched all three of them carefully. She had walked into the lab so abruptly that the three men were still practically frozen in their spots. Steve and Tony were standing face to face like she caught them in the middle of some sort of staring contest. Bruce was a bit more withdrawn but despite pretending to be focused on his work only, it was clear he had been just as involved in whatever they were discussing before she came in.

"Was I interrupting something?"  she finally asked after a long moment of silence.

"What?"

"You were talking about something before I came in, weren't you?"

"No, not at all,"  Steve chided but the dark look he sent Tony, before taking a seat on a nearby chair, did not escape her.

Angrboda was having none of it "I have very little patience for that kind of nonsense Captain. Tell me what you were about to say before I walked in."

"Nothing of importance,"  Bruce tried to brush away.

Angrboda sighed and glanced at the third man in the room "Tony...?"

Tony knew full well she'd never let it go. There was no reason to keep it a secret from her anyway.

"We think Fury's hiding something,"  he drops before glancing back at Steve "Well, Banner and I think so, at least."


	8. Secrets, Secrets

_"We think Fury's hiding something," Tony drops before glancing back at Steve "Well, Banner and I think so, at least."  
_

_~_

Angrboda's eyes widened "What?"

"Think about it," Tony said "Loki was able to open a portal into Earth  _only_   _because_  S.H.I.E.L.D took the Tesseract out of its case."

She paused for a second, glancing at Steve and Bruce who were waiting for her to make the connection, and it wasn't hard to do so "That means...  _they were using the Tesseract_ , weren't they?"

Tony nodded with a grin "Exactly."

"And that's why you think there's something else Fury's not telling us?"

Tony laid his hands on the table between them "He's a spy, Angie, even his secrets have secrets," he then pointed at Banner "It's bugging him too, isn't it?"

Bruce shrugged fatalistically "I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

"Luckily, I'll have answers once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D's secure files," Tony showed a half-full download status bar on the screen of his phone.

Steve's eyes almost popped out of their sockets "I'm sorry, did you say...?"

"Jarvis has been running it since I came here," Tony announced "In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D has ever tried to hide."

Angrboda had to admit she was quite impressed. Usually, it was in her nature to be distrustful of everything and everyone but the circumstances made her put aside her usual cautiousness. She was glad someone else took the relay.

But clearly Steve was not as impressed, as told by the dirty look he sent Tony "And yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?"

This made Tony cock an eyebrow "An intelligence organisation that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome."

"I have to admit, this doesn't smell right at all," Angrboda conceded.

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up," Steve argued "This is a man who means to start a  _war_ , and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."

His patronising tone made Angrboda's irritation spike more than it should have "If you had listened to a word I said earlier Rogers, Natasha  _will_  tell us all about Loki's plans as soon as her interrogation is over. We  _are_  trying to find the cube. But if Tony and Bruce are right, this puts everything into perspective."

Steve stayed quiet for a few seconds. The frown on his face deepened and his mind finally seemed to take in the possibility that the organisation he worked for might indeed not be as transparent as he hoped... But being the obedient soldier he was, the nagging thought was quickly shaken off. 

He shook his head resolutely "Just focus on the Tesseract," he insisted before storming out of the lab.

Tony rolled his eyes watching him leave. He slid his phone back in his pocket and leaned against the table that Angrboda sat on.

"Is that the guy my father never shut up about?" he sneered "Wondering if they should've kept him on ice..."

Angrboda crossed her leg over her thigh before shrugging "He's a soldier, it's in his nature not to question orders. But you saw the look on his face. He'll come around."

On the other side of the room, Bruce looked up from his computer screen "The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us."

Angrboda took the pager that Natasha had given her earlier out of her pocket and glanced at the small LED display screen "Not for long I hope."

The pager was connected to her earpiece and the outcome of the interrogation should be sent to her any minute now.

**⁂**

The Detention Centre was completely quiet if not for the small thudding sound made by Loki's shoes. He paced back and forth, painstakingly slow, over and over again along the length of his glass cell. Thoughts ran wildly through his mind but they were interrupted suddenly as he felt a presence behind him.

An eerie grin spread on his lips as he stopped walking without facing the newcomer "There's not many people that can sneak up on me."

He finally turned around to see Natasha standing on the other side of the glass, arms crossed over her chest and a hard expression on her face.

"But you figured I'd come."

"Of course. After whatever tortures Fury could concoct and Angrboda's pitiful attempt at intimidation," his grin turned bitter "I knew you would appear as a friend. And I would cooperate, supposedly."

Natasha's face was impassible "I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton."

Loki chuckled "I'd say I've expanded his mind."

"And once you get what you want... Once you're king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?"

"Is this love, Agent Romanoff?" the smug look on Loki's face made Natasha want to kick him brutally in the teeth.

"Love is for children," she scoffed "I owe him a debt."

He sat down on the one chair in his cell "Tell me. I love myself a sappy story"

Natasha had no idea what pushed her to comply with his request so easily but she knew she had to make him think she was transparent so he would be too, later on.

"Before I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D," she began "I... made a name for myself in other ways. I have a very specific skillset. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on S.H.I.E.L.D's radar, in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me... but he made a different call."

"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" Loki asked.

"Certainly not let you out."

Loki laughed "Ah no, but this is amusing. You world is in the balance and you bargain for one man? There must be something else you want."

Natasha shrugged "It's really not that complicated. I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out."

Loki got closer to the glass, looking much more menacing "Can you? Can you wipe out  _that_  much red? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's  _gushing_  red," he hissed "And you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything?"

He watched the effect of his words on her and was satisfied to see the tears forming in her eyes. Clearly he had broken down her thin facade of indifference now replaced by a look of shock and disgust.

"You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away!" he ranted angrily and slammed his fist into the glass wall of his cell, making Natasha flinch "I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you! Slowly. Intimately. In every way he knows you fear! And when he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!"

Natasha gasped as her hand curled over her mouth. She turned around, taking a few steps away from Loki, her body shaking all over. 

"You... you're a monster," she muttered quietly.

Loki laughed  _"No, you're the one who brought the monster on this ship_. _"_

Natasha froze. She stayed silent for a moment as all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

Suddenly, a small grin spread on her face, contrasting sharply with the distraught act she was just putting on. She turned around, completely poised and blinking away the fake tears.

"Oh my God,  _Banner_... that's you're plan?!"

Loki's face fell "What?"

Natasha took out the pager from her belt and brought it near her lips  _"Angie, it's me. I figured it out: Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab_ _AT ALL COST_ _. I'm on my way."_

She then turned to Loki who looked completely aghast "Thank you for your cooperation," she nodded pompously before walking out quickly, leaving Loki frozen in his spot.

**⁂**

"I can't believe it..."

If anyone had entered the tech lab at that moment, they would've come across a very unusual scene, something you clearly didn't get to see everyday: Tony, Bruce and Angrboda clustered together in front of a computer screen, knee deep into S.H.I.E.L.D's most secure files. They had been digging through the organisation's darkest secrets for the last half hour, the second Tony's decryption program had finished breaking into the system.

And so far, they did not like what they were finding,  _not in the slightest bit_.

"This is insane," Bruce ran a hand through his hair "S.H.I.E.L.D wants to use the Tesseract to make weapons?!"

It was Tony who had figured it out first. There were dozens of records of experiments done with weapon prototypes. All of them involved using the energy yielded from the Tesseract. There were also hundreds of plans for guns, rifles, rockets and bombs; enough weaponry to decimate half of the Earth's population. It was horrifying.

Tony shook his head "This is classic, I should've known..."

They continued scrolling through the documents for a while, too appalled to say anything. But suddenly, one of the files caught Angrboda's attention.

She stopped Tony's hand from moving the screen "Wait a second..."

She selected one of the records which had a small picture in the thumbnail. She had instantly recognised the picture but was dreading to confirm her suspicions.

Finally, it was Bruce who managed to click on the file, enlarging the picture and the text under it. All of their eyes widened in shock.

"Is that..." 

"...me," she finished feeling her blood start to boil in anger "They... they put me on their  _watchlist_?!"

They skimmed through the endless notes and texts that accompanied her photo. Everything S.H.I.E.L.D knew about her was gathered in that file in a surprising amount detail: from her background information to her physical appearance, her personality traits... Even her date of birth and details about her bloody parents were on there, though she had genuinely no idea how they managed to get that kind of information.

Bruce kept scrolling and almost snorted when he saw his own picture "Oh, there I am..." he said not really surprised at all.

"S.H.I.E.L.D got you both to work for them  _and_  put you on their watchlist?!" Tony exclaimed astonished "What kind of messed up system is this?!"

It didn't take long for Angrboda to put two and two together "So all this talk about wanting me on the team... Fury was just lying to keep an eye on me..."

Tony glanced at her and was surprised to find her looking genuinely upset. He hadn't expected the news to affect Angrboda so much. She usually seemed so detached from it all, perhaps he'd been wrong in assuming her involvement with the Avengers was purely by default. It was true that her options had narrowed drastically as of late but perhaps she cared much more than she let on.

He was looking for something to say, anything that wouldn't seem out of place but they were interrupted by the sound of Angie's pager beeping loudly from her pocket.

An alarmed look quickly took over her traits though she was relieved to finally hear the outcome of Loki's interrogation.

She stepped away from the two men and activated her earpiece to listen to Natasha's message:

_"Angie, it's me. I figured it out: Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab AT ALL COST. I'm on my way."_

She slowly looked up from the ground to see Tony and Bruce already staring at her expectantly. Her gaze lingered on Bruce as Natasha's words echoed again and again and a horrified look spread slowly on her face.


	9. Be Careful

Angrboda's head was buzzing. Everything was happening so fast. First, she learns that S.H.I.E.L.D is planning to build weapons of mass destruction using the Tesseract, then she discovers that her joining the Avengers is a scam by Fury to keep an eye on her and finally that Loki is planning to push Bruce, someway, somehow, into unleashing the Hulk.

There was so much to deal with at once.

Still in the tech lab, the tension in the air was palpable. She hadn't told Tony or Bruce what Natasha said but her expression probably said it all. She could tell Bruce already figured out it had something to do with him by the look of complete despondency on his face.

Tony was also silent. He was probably waiting for her to reveal Loki's plans and she would have if Fury hadn't barged into the room at that exact moment.

The Colonel's eyes scanned the room, surprised to see Angrboda in the lab and the two men clearly distracted from their task of finding the Tesseract.

"What's going on?" he asked disapprovingly.

"Uh, that's kind of what we've been wondering," Tony sneered.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract," Fury retorted.

"Oh, we are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile," Bruce said crossing his arms over his chest.

"You will get your cube..." Angrboda trailed off and turned the screen of the computer toward Fury making him freeze in surprise "In the meantime, explain this."

The computer showed one of the secret plans for the weapons that S.H.I.E.L.D was designing.

"Where did you get this?!" Fury exclaimed furiously.

"Somewhere you clearly did not want us looking," Tony hissed.

Fury was about to retort something but Steve stomped in at that exact moment and dropped a large assault rifle on the table, causing all five of them to jump in surprise. The gun had a massive HYDRA logo on its handle.

"S.H.I.E.L.D is replicating HYDRA weapons?!" Steve exclaimed.

"You went into the secured storage, Rogers?!" Fury bellowed, his face contorted in anger.

Steve glanced at Tony, Angrboda and Bruce before shrugging "The computer was moving a little too slow for me. I had to find out for myself."

"Listen," Fury tried to calm them down "These are meant to be used on dangerous people only, it's not—"

"Dangerous people like  _me_....?" Angrboda hissed "We also had a look at S.H.I.E.L.D's watchlist. You lied to me!"

"It's not like that," he sighed "We don't—"

He was cut off by the sound of the door flinging open, again. Natasha walked in, followed closely by Thor. Her attention was focused on Bruce even though she looked concerned and confused by the altercation that was clearly taking place. Angrboda was relieved to see her but it was quickly replaced by resentment as it dawned on her that Natasha was probably involved in S.H.I.E.L.D's schemes.

"You!" she pointed an accusing finger at the Black Widow "Did you know about this?!"

"Know about what?" she asked as her eyes scanned the room and her gaze stopped on the HYDRA weapon on the table.

"That S.H.I.E.L.D's using the Tesseract to build weapons!" Bruce answered.

"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" she frowned worriedly yet avoided the question and then turned to Angrboda "Haven't you heard my message? We have more important things to deal with right now."

Although Angrboda was infinitely outraged by the revelations she'd just gotten, it pained her to admit that Natasha was right. They had a critical situation on their  hands and it involved a giant green monster that could potentially kill them all and destroy the aircraft.

"She... she's right," Angrboda said turning to Banner "Loki plans on using the Hulk to free himself. He's manipulating you, Bruce."

"And  _they_ 've been doing what exactly?" he snapped pointing at Natasha and Fury.

"I know! I'm just as furious as you are, but you need to trust me..." she told him as calmly as possible though her insides were in total panic "We need to get you out of here."

"Hold on," Tony intervened "No one's leaving before they tell us why S.H.I.E.L.D is building weapons of mass destruction!"

"Tony, stop it," she exclaimed. He clearly didn't realise the gravity of the situation, none of them did.

She  _knew_  Loki through and through, the anger that was growing exponentially inside of Bruce at that moment, it was all Loki using the situation to his advantage. If no one did anything to calm him down he'd soon be completely out of control.

She sent an imploring look to Thor who had inexplicably stayed silent until now. She wanted nothing but to grab his shoulders and yell at him to do something. He didn't seem to get the message, unsurprisingly.  _Thor could be so incredibly thick sometimes._

"You want to know why S.H.I.E.L.D's using the Tesseract to build weapons?" Fury then said "It's because of  _them_."

And much to Angrboda's surprise,  _he was pointing at both Thor and herself_.

 _"Me?!"_  they exclaimed in unison.

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that levelled a small town," Fury said, referring to Thor "Last week, we had another visitor who destroyed a hundred square foot field with her bare hands," his penetrating stare seemed to dig holes through her " _We learned that not only are we not alone, but_   _we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned_."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor protested.

"And I've been trying to  _protect_  the Earth from Loki's schemes for goodness' sake!" she added.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury retorted "And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled."

"Like you tried to control the cube?" Steve butted in disapprovingly.

"My entire realm was destroyed with a force that wasn't as powerful as the Tesseract," Angrboda glowered, her face contorted with anger "What don't you understand about that?! You're only fooling yourself if you think you're heading toward anything but destruction."

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki and his allies to it in the first place. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war."

Fury raised his arms fatalistically "You forced our hand! What other choice do we have?"

It was Tony's turn to butt in "Nuclear deterrent..." he sneered sarcastically "Cause that always calms everything right down!"

Natasha's eyes narrowed "Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?"

"And I'm sure if Stark still made weapons, he'd be neck deep into this..." Steve muttered between his teeth.

"Hold on! How is this about me, now?"

Angrboda groaned in annoyance. This is what  _always_  happened when the "team" was together. The room was filled with some of the biggest egos she'd ever seen — admittedly that included hers too — and those egos kept rubbing off each other. If no one did anything to stop it, things were about to go sideways really fast.

By the look of things, Bruce was getting alarmingly more upset and it seemed like Fury had noticed it too.

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his room," he told Natasha, the hesitation clear in his voice.

Natasha was about to respond when suddenly the computer started to beep uncontrollably making all their attention turn to it. Bruce and Tony both rushed to it and the rest watched as an expression of confusion and surprise spread over their traits.

"Located the Tesseract?" Thor asked.

"There must be a mistake..." Tony trailed off as he analysed the data on the monitor "It says the Tesseract is... here."

"What do you mean  _here_?!" Natasha furrowed her brows.

"It's somewhere on this ship," Bruce explained though he didn't look like he understood it any better than the rest of them did.

"Do you have a more precise location? We need to find it before—"

Suddenly a deafening explosion detonated outside of the lab, throwing all of them in different directions. There were several blinding flashes as the equipment burst into flames, spraying fumes and sharp debris into the air. The explosion pushed Fury and Thor through the casement window, landing between the shards of glass, while Steve, Tony and Angrboda were thrown violently against the walls. The platform that Natasha and Bruce were standing on detached from the ground completely and was knocked down sending them both into the equipment room on the lower floor.

Angrboda got back on her feet as quickly as she could but an excruciating blow in her right shoulder made her writhe in pain. Everyone else seemed to be recovering from the initial shock and the jolt of the blast except Natasha and Bruce who were nowhere to be seen.

She glanced at the two people closest to her, Steve and Tony, who were just getting back up. Thankfully neither of them seemed to be injured. She wobbled toward Tony, her hand clutching her shoulder, wincing in pain. He caught her just in time to prevent her from collapsing to the ground.

"Shit, Angie, what happened?!"

"My shoulder is... is dislocated" she barely managed to say "I can't put it back on my own... I... I need you to do it."

"What, no! You need med—"

"Do it, Tony!" Steve's voice came from behind them.

"Hurry up!" she echoed, gritting her teeth.

He didn't hesitate for long. Steve immobilised her back between his palms as Tony grabbed her elbow in one hand and her shoulder with the other. He quickly popped it back into its socket with a sickening crack.

She screamed but the jolt lasted only a second. The pain quickly dissipated, almost miraculously and she could feel herself regain movement in her shoulder although the area still felt raw.

"Thank you," she managed to smile, catching her breath.

They looked around to examine the wreckage and were horrified to see the hole in the ground where Natasha and Bruce had fallen.

"Everyone ok?!" Fury called out, walking toward them uneasily.

"Where did the explosion come from?!" Thor panted, still clutching his ribs.

"I don't know," the Colonel scowled putting his earpiece back on. The voice of Agent Maria Hill reached him with a few crackles.

_"Engine number 3 is down! Turbine's loose. Mostly intact, but it's impossible to get out there and make repairs while we're in the air. Somebody's got to get inside and patch that engine."_

He looked up at Tony "Stark, you copy?"

Tony nodded determinedly "Let me suit up and I'm on it."

Fury then turned to Steve, Thor and Angrboda "You three, follow me, we might need you on the bridge."

"I'm going after Bruce and Natasha," Angrboda dropped resolutely.

Fury stopped barking orders into his earpiece and seemed to ponder her announcement for a second "That may not be a bad idea... Just make yourself useful people, it's crunch time!" and with that he dashed out of the room, followed closely by Steve and Thor.

Tony's eyes met hers, a deeply concerned look painted on his traits "You're really going after the big guy?"

She nodded "It was my job to prevent this from happening. Natasha can't handle him on her own."

She began to turn away and walk to the hole in the ground where Black Widow and Dr Banner had disappeared but Tony grabbed her wrist before she could jump.

"Be careful, okay?"

"I will."


End file.
